Riyadh – Mubasher: All Saudi airports will be privatised and discussions are ongoing about establishing firms to manage them, Mohammed Abdelaziz Alshetwey, the assistant president for financial affairs in Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said on Monday.

The airports will be transformed into companies with special regulators, in line with the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision, Alshetwey added.

The amendments and the most updated design implementations will start in King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh after the end of Haj.

King Abdulaziz International Airport (KAIA) will be opened in the second half of 2018, under the management of Singaporean firm Changi Airport Group, which will manage it for 20 years.

The Kingdom-based GACA will separate from the Saudi Civil Aviation Holding Company, so the company will manage all Saudi airports.

The GACA plans to develop the airports in the Al-Qassim and Ha’il regions, and to establish a new airport in the Ta’if region.